I am planning to upgrade my current receiver (Marantz SR7000). I have been researching a lot on the web and I have (almost) come to the conclusion that NAD T763 would be the best choice. I care about musical quality (stereo and multi channel). The system would be used for listening to music 98% of the time.
I have Totem Acoustic Arro for front speakers and Totem Dreamcatcher for centre, rear and SUB. My CD player is an upgraded Music Hall CD25 and for SACD and DVD Audio I use Pioneer Elite DV-45A.
I mostly listen to Heavy Metal, Classic Rock, Prog Metal, Prog Rock and New Age. I am not sure if that matters when buying a receiver.
I have noticed that there are a lot of knowledgeable people on this board so any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
As regards to NAD, you surely won't find any difficulties in reliability. Within my setup, I had several receivers from nad. A T750, a T751 and currently a T762 and none of them failed or gave a hint of trouble. Infact the later receiver is much more flexible then the past designs, and offer more features then older models. I would surely recommend the T763, a great receiver plus software upgradeable which is a great plus. At least Nad do issue software releases as several mid priced receivers are installed with an rs232 port but no software upgrades are ever delivered.
I am confused by the requirement for having surround sound. You say you will be listening to music 98% of the time, so what is the point of having a full surround system? DVD-A and SACD account for 2% of the market so it can't be that. You would get much better fidelity if you spent the same money on a quality stereo amplifier. A Naim Nait5i suits the Arros very well indeed. If you must have surround sound, then add a cheap surround receiver for the fun of it and use the Naim to drive the main front speakers when surround is in use. The Naim has a useful Unity Gain feature that allows you to pass through without worrying about volume control on the A/V input. Couple the Naim with a decent CD player - anything from a NAD C542 up to a Naim CD5i, Arcam CD192, etc and you'll get excellent music reproduction.
Alternatively, if you decided you didn't really need surround sound but still wanted a DVD player, you could simply go with one of the more musical DVD players such as the Arcams (DV78 or DV79) into a decent stereo amp such as the Naim, Cyrus, Arcam. You'll get much better music and decent stereo for DVD replay which is better than you'd credit most of the time.
Last time (3 years ago) when I was upgrading my YAMAHA receiver I was looking into NAD. He recommended Marantz SR 7000. When I upgraded my POLK to Totem he was recommending Arcam over Marantz.
Thanks for the input. I have a habit of using all the surround speakers when I listen to music. Marantz has a 5 Channel stereo which is decent. I am buying more and more DVD-Audio and SACD as they are released. If I had the budget I would definitely go with separates (Anthem or Kerll or Arcam). Eventually that is what I would buy, but for now I have to stick with one unit that would do everything but with emphasize on the music quality.
I am planning to replace my actual Stereo receiver Denon DRA-295 because I believe it doesn't deliver the sound quality that I should expect from my Infinity IL10.
Does anybody can help me finding the right receiver but I must say that Marantz looks interesting isn't it ?
Elmosaurus
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I feel the NAD is more musical than the Marantz (since you specifically designated you care about the musicality of the piece) which is why I ended up with a T763.
But my standard advice is as always; set up an appointment, bring your fronts, your front wires, and interconnects you'll be using, in for a weekend afternoon, and demo your ears out.
(you're forunate in that you only have to bring the speakers to one store, since your dealer is auhtorized for both)
Also, when demoing the NAD, insist on only a Ver 2 firmware; (marked on the outside of the box with a green sticker) This will be the latest and most up to date unit design/firmware from about two months ago.
Today I went to my dealer to listen and judge for myself! He had the same speakers as I have (Totem Arro and Dreamcatcher). I listened to NAD T763, Arcam 250 and Arcam 200. All three were exceptionally wonderful. They were all better than the Marantz SR 7000 that I have.
I went to store aiming for NAD but I came out of the store deciding to buy the Arcam 250. When I listened to the Arcam I felt something that I didn't feel with NAD, Musically it was better for me. Even the Arcam 200 sounded better that NAD 763.
I am not saying that NAD is not good, it is exceptionally good, but to my ears Arcam was the winner. Someone else may listen and pick NAD, rightfully so. All I can recommend from my experience is that go to your dealer and listen and then choose.
I also asked him about reliability, he had no major issues with either NAD or Arcam. He told me that both were very reliable systems.
Mohsen, I would like to pay not more than $300 and I think that the NAD T763 is way up more ! isn't it ?
Elmosaurus
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Robert,
The T763 lists for $1399.00, but with a good dealer, and a bulk buy (more than just the unit at time of purchase, say, cables, or a player, or such) you can get in under $1200 usually.
The lowest model NAD A/V is the T743, at an MSRP of $699, and can usually be had street price around $550. But it and the $999 MSRP T753 lack the torroid type power supply of the T763, as well as many auxillary features that are included in the T763.
Sonically, all of the T7x3 line are pretty close, when driven within each of their respective power limits; so as long as the wattage level is acceptable for your playback room environment, it becomes an issue of selecting features more than anything.
E.
Anonymous
Posted on
Elmo
Is there any difference in sound quality between the 753 and the 763 at low to medium listening level? I'm after the sound quality and features are secondary. I'm planning to get one.
Elmosaurus
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Anon:
It's very minor from what I've heard.
The major difference is the torroid power supply, which by design is a more efficient unit in a smaller space.
The only time a power supply's demand gets stretched is when the power draw approaches the wattage rating of the unit; ie, when it's playing loud'er'.
What you define as loud/med/low and what I define it as is a personally subjective value, so I can't say for sure.
What you should do really is audition the unit, and then you'll know for sure.
Use your own speakers, cables, and interconnects if you can.
My guess is that in a smaller to medium size room, you'd barely notice the difference. (speaker quality would discern more of a difference than the move from laminated block power supply to torroid)
I think you are right. Speaker quality makes a huge difference. I'm leaning toward the 753 and save the price difference to buy a decent dvd player like the T533.What about the speakers?MA Silver, Quad 12L or the cheaper MA b2? I'll audition this weekend. Thanks